


The Pastoral Kirk and Spock

by Maeve_of_Winter



Category: The Trixie Belden Mysteries - Julie Campbell Tatham & Kathryn Kenny
Genre: Dan and Mart Friendship, Epic Bromance, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-21
Updated: 2014-04-21
Packaged: 2018-01-20 07:49:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1502513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maeve_of_Winter/pseuds/Maeve_of_Winter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Despite their rocky beginning, Dan and Mart will always be one of the most important figures in each other's lives. Through fire, famine, or flood- their friendship will outlast the direst of circumstances.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Pastoral Kirk and Spock

**Author's Note:**

> This is set shortly after The Happy Valley Mystery.
> 
> I welcome constructive criticism on all of my works. If you want to leave a comment, that's perfectly fine, but if you'd prefer to send a message, my email is goldphoenixrising@yahoo.com.

They stay up all night talking, camped out around a fire deep in the preserve. Dan has always been able to entrance him in a way that no one else can even begin to rival. 

Diana is beautiful, there's no doubt, but she doesn't know Watchmen, or Hemingway, or even Lord of the Rings.

Their discussion is at once trivial and vital, inconsequential and profound, but the topic of conversation doesn't matter much to Mart. Just talking with Dan is cathartic- it's like being immersed in every positive emotion he has ever experienced.

All his life, he's been introduced as the Belden's middle boy, or Brian's younger brother; Mart has been forever lost in familial association. Trixie, with her typical good luck, escaped such epithets when she forged friendships with Honey and Jim, becoming her own person outside of the family. He can remember the surprise of coming home from camp to find that the Manor House was occupied, and Trixie was friendly with the entire family and staff.

And he can't deny that as the realization dawned, it was accompanied by a twinge of jealousy and resentment.

Mart was the first Belden to actually meet Dan, and he's never forgotten that. For the first time in a long time, a pair of eyes had gazed upon Mart as an individual, not just another member of the Belden clan. 

Though that gaze was initially glacial and they hadn't started off as friends, they are inseparable now. To Mart, that's all that matters. Meeting Dan, and then later becoming his closest, most valued friend- it was like moving from Antarctica to Hawaii.

The sky is still dark as they sit together in the chill and mist of early morning, the smoke drifting up from the embers of their dying fire. Mart leans against a boulder, his sweatshirt acting as a cushion against the cold, craggy stone. Dan's back is supported by Mart's shoulder, and Mart can feel each breath Dan takes. He closes his eyes drowsily, listening to the steady rhythm of Dan's lungs, concentrating on the sound and letting it soothe him.

No one else can make him feel this completion, this simple, pleasant peace, not even Diana.

Because, to Dan, he's not Trixie's brother or Brian's brother, the Beldens' middle boy- he's just Mart. And Mart can't think of being someone else when he has Dan to be with. 

The dimness is ebbing away due to the dawn, and the sunrise will follow soon. Fine ribbons of smoke twine from the moribund fire, ghosts waning in the half-light. Mart wishes he could bottle this moment, encapsule the serenity at the core of his being, so he could never forget the unadulterated contentment of being in Dan's presence during the barest darkness. 

Impossible, of course. But if he can't make this moment last forever, he might as well make it worthwhile.

Mart springs to his feet, tugging Dan up to stand with him, and then pulls him several yards to a wider clearing that channels into a meadow. Now, they have a clear view of the sunrise, nothing blocked by foliage.

They arrive just in time, seconds before the sun ascends the sky, weaving a tapestry of warm colors. The view is beautiful, and as Mart drapes an arm across Dan's shoulders, he can think of no one else he would rather have with him for it.


End file.
